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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206417">Your color on my lips</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imwastingmylifeinhere/pseuds/Imwastingmylifeinhere'>Imwastingmylifeinhere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Mutual Pining, Secret Identity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:26:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,433</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206417</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imwastingmylifeinhere/pseuds/Imwastingmylifeinhere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While out on patrol, She-Ra - the city's beloved superhero - encounters somebody else fulfilling her role as a hero. The last person she expected to see.<br/>Wildcat. Her nemesis.<br/>Or maybe not. Is the line between hero and villain really as clearcut as Adora thought it was?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>264</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Catradora Soulmates Zine, Finished111</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Your color on my lips</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It's finally here! I'm really excited to finally post this, it was a lot of fun working on this. Shoutout to <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/csariite/with_replies">csariite</a> who helped me brainstorm this story. Check out their art, it's amazing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The night air is sharp against Adora’s skin as she continues her patrol. Technically, today is her day off - she knows Bow and Glimmer will chastise her for not resting. They'll say Etheria can survive one night without its favorite superhero. But Adora can't keep herself from the streets. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s been a lifetime since she left the Fright Zone Orphanage, but the alleys and rooftops in this part of the city still feel familiar under her feet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hears the crash as she leaps to the next building.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Broken glass litters the sidewalk, white under the glare of the grocery store’s fluorescent lights. Adora remembers this shop, remembers counting pocket change at its steps with Catra for popsicles. A man in black drags the owner outside, two other men with bats at his side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Adora can jump down from her perch, a blur dashes out from an alley. It strikes the first man and the owner scrambles back to the store. The men turn to the new figure brandishing their weapons. Her tail sways behind her, a predator up against prey too weak for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The fight is over embarrassingly fast - if it can even be called a fight. Three back alley robbers never stood a chance against one of Etheria’s most infamous supervillains. They only manage one hit - across the back of her head with the bat as she pinned another guy to the ground. She hardly badges, rips the bat from his hands, and sends him down as well. Soon, the robbers are scurrying away like mice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The owner and his wife come out from behind the broken window, but before they can say anything, Wildcat sways and collapses.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Adora, this isn’t a good choice, </span>
  </em>
  <span>a voice says in her head that sounds suspiciously like Glimmer. </span>
  <em>
    <span>And you’ve made a lot of bad choices.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Adora still slips down from the roof and takes Wildcat in her arms. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright,” she tells the owner and his wife. They’re still shaken from the attack. “I’ll take care of her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A hand tugs at her costume right before she can leave. It’s the wife. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please don’t turn her in. She’s a good girl.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Wildcat is still unconscious when Adora lays her on the bed - thankfully, nobody is in the university infirmary at this hour. Adora lets her keys fade into whatever pocket dimension her sword is in.</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat looks different like this. Her features are smoothed out, relaxed, her perpetual smirk wiped away. In the soft moonlight streaming through the curtains, her mask seems to melt away. Gone is the big bad villain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She’s just a girl.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t we both?” Adora whispers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat groans. Her eyes scrunch up and she blinks them open. Her tail goes rigid when she sees Adora.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She-Ra,” she hisses. “Why have you brought me here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not going to turn you in,” Adora says. She doesn’t know when she decided, but the words feel true on her lips. “Those robbers hit you on the head. I was going to check if you’re ok.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, right.” Wildcat jumps off the bed, stumbling to her feet. She sways and flops back on the bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not lying,” Adora insists, but Wildcat rolls her eyes at her. Adora exhales slowly through her nose. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t let her get under your skin.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Why did you help those people?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat scoffs like she’s never heard a stupider question.“They’re a small business. They don’t make that much anyway. And they’re good people.” She looks Adora up and down, her eyes boring into her. “What’s it to you anyway?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about the house fire last month? You got their daughter out when the firefighters couldn’t. And you donate to the Fright Zone Orphanage.” Wildcat's eyes widen behind her mask, one blue and one golden. They seem to glow in the dark. “Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her tail lashes behind her. She refuses to meet Adora’s eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The kids call you ‘the nice Cat Lady’.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat's hair, short as it is, bristles. “Some of us aren’t as lucky as you, princess," she spits out. "Half the people in that dump end up in the Horde because they have no other choices.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It all clicks in place then. The fresh coat of paint on the walls when Adora went to volunteer at her old home, the heat several degrees higher than she ever remembered it being, the servings at dinner big enough that they don't leave your stomach rumbling. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So the money…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat nods. She sits with her back straight, head held high, the very picture of strength. But her tail is wrapped around her frame. It's the most vulnerable Adora has ever seen her rival. “If those kids are better off than I was maybe they won’t have to join.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The mattress dips under her weight as she sits next to Wildcat. “You were in the Fright Zone?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What, I don’t remind you of Annie?” Wildcat smirks, but it's nothing like the one Adora has seen so many times across the battlefield. There's no threat to it, it's just… playful. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora nudges her with her shoulder. It feels strangely right to drop her walls with this girl. More than she ever thought it would. "I grew up there too," she whispers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something unreadable passes behind her rival's eyes, but she looks away before Adora can figure out what it is. “Small world. I don’t remember your stupid face.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you wanted to help," Adora starts, "is crime really the right way?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat whips around to face her, her eyes harsh and narrowed. “Oh no, princess, you don’t get to judge me for my choices. Nobody is in the Horde if they can avoid it. That place is a shithole, but they pay well. There’s more I can do for myself and those kids with their money than the pennies any minimum wage job would give me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>That's… not what I expected. </span>
  </em>
  <span>It seems Wildcat was set on surprising her tonight. "You don’t really like the Horde, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who likes their shitty job?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t you leave then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat sighs, rolling her eyes and leaning backwards on her arms. “Even if I had money saved up and didn’t need them, there’s a little thing called the law.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Rebellion could help.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It feels so simple when Adora says it like that. Simpler than it actually would be to convince her fellow superheroes to help Wildcat. But she knows, the moment the words leave her mouth, that she would try her hardest to do it. Despite all their battles, despite how long Adora has spent believing that her nemesis must be an inherently evil person… she's good.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them aren't that different. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> "Why would they help me?" Wildcat scoffs. </span>
  <em>
    <span>'Are you crazy?' </span>
  </em>
  <span>her eyes seem to say. "We’re not exactly bffs.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Adora can say anything more, Wildcat slumps down on the bed, lying on her back. “Ugh, why am I telling you all this?" The masked woman groans, staring up at the ceiling. She's talking more to herself than Adora. "It’s just-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hard to do it alone," Adora continues. "Without someone to help you carry the weight, or even know you’re buckling under it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her hands are bigger as She-Ra. They're perfectly smooth, no calluses left behind from fighting with her sword or lifting debris off civilians. Any injury she sustains as She-Ra always disappears when she transforms back to her ordinary self, taking the pain along with it. Sometimes it's hard to remember this body belongs to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Adora still feels it, somewhere deep in her. Time and time again, she returns to their small apartment after a fight, carrying with her the phantom pain of a wound that should have brought her down, and all she wants is to curl in bed with Catra. Let her take the weight off her shoulders that presses her closer and closer into the earth with each day. See Catra’s fingertips leave behind red clouds on her skin when she touches her, even if their soulbond will never mean what Adora wants it to. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Would their colors still swirl together if Adora touched Catra as She-Ra? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess your soulmate isn’t kissing you after saving the day like in the movies, huh?” Wildcat chuckles as she says it, dry, but there’s no malice behind it. It’s almost like she’s one of Adora’s university classmates, complaining about a particularly bad assignment they both had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She,” Adora wraps her arms around herself, “doesn’t feel like that about me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Same,” Wildcat drawls. “Maybe we should start a support group. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Pining Villains and Vigilantes’</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” She swipes her hand in the air above her, as if the words will spring from her fingers in a neon sign, and it actually makes Adora laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s beyond strange to sit side by side with the woman she has been fighting with for months and joke about their abysmal love lives, and yet it’s the most relaxed Adora has felt in weeks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My soulmate doesn't know I’m with the Horde,” Wildcat sighs. Her voice is so quiet Adora barely heard it. “She would hate me if she did. I just got to be her friend again, I can’t…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wildcat’s eyes glisten under the moonlight. With a start, Adora realizes they’re tears. She reaches out, but before she can touch Wildcat, comfort her in what small way she can, she sits up. “Just check my head and let's get done with this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora nods, even though Wildcat doesn’t see. She’s refusing to look at her. “If,” she starts when she’s standing behind her, “if you decide to leave, the Rebellion will help you.” A beat passes, Adora’s fingers hovering over the edge of Wildcat’s mask, then, “I will.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Adora doesn’t have some long, detailed speech to explain herself. She can only shrug and say, “You’re a good person.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Wildcat doesn’t respond, Adora takes off her mask, careful not to look at Wildcat’s face. She’s not going to violate her privacy like that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her plan was to brush her fingers over Wildcat’s scalp to check for any worrisome bumps, but the moment she touches the other woman’s nape, heat spreads through her. Yet, despite the warmth flooding in from her hands, Adora is frozen. Blue leaks onto Wildcat’s neck, swirling like watercolor. Red climbs up Adora’s fingers, a hundred tiny flowers blooming to her knuckles. The spot where their skin touches is an unmistakable, vivid shade of purple.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The same purple that has accompanied childhood pinky promises, teenage high fives, and late-night hugs. The same purple Adora only ever sees on herself when she touches her soulmate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Catra?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s only a whisper, but it sounds deafening in the thick silence that has fallen between them. Wildcat’s - no, Catra’s - ears twitch when she hears her name. She felt it too, no doubt - the buzzing warmth rippling out from where they touched that differentiates their soulmate’s touch from everyone else’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra turns around to face her slowly, like Adora will disappear if she moves too fast - or like she’s afraid to see her stand behind her. Without the mask, her eyes are not quite as catlike, but no less beautiful. They dart around Adora’s face, taking in She-Ra’s features as if it’s the first time, searching for traces of Adora among them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora lets her transformation fall. A bright light fills the room and when it fades Adora is left standing there in front of Catra, still in the same clothes she was wearing in their morning class. Catra’s hand rises to her cheek, shaking. That same warm feeling seeps through her and Adora knows their colors are swirling together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Adora,” Catra breathes out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora’s lips tremble. Catra is here, in a villain's outfit, and they’ve been fighting each other all along. Everything replays in her mind, from the moment she first became She-Ra. Every punch, every swing of her sword, all of it directed at the girl who had been her home since before she knew the word. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn't know who moved in first, but they're hugging, arms wrapped tightly around each other. Catra is gripping the back of her shirt and Adora’s nose is buried in the fabric of her suit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I flung you against a building," she says, and the absurdity of the situation makes her voice bubble in a laugh. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She feels Catra nod against her shoulder. “I kidnapped your friends." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now they're both laughing, holding each other as the shock makes its way out of them with every snicker and every recollection. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they can no longer laugh, the only sound in the infirmary is their breathing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>" I hope you don't-" Catra starts, but her voice breaks. "Now that you know, please don't -" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra’s words from earlier come back to her, twisting around her heart like a vice and digging in. Adora pulls back, cupping Catra’s face in her hands. “I don’t hate you, Catra." Red curls around Adora’s fingers and blue clouds form on Catra’s cheeks. When her thumb brushes across her cheek, it leaves a trail of violets behind. "I could never hate you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra smiles, shaky and relieved, leaning into Adora’s touch. Adora is burning again, but it has nothing to do with their soulbond. She would love Catra even if they weren't soulmates, even if loving her was the last thing she should ever do. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And maybe it is. Maybe She-Ra, protector of Etheria, shouldn't be so helplessly in love with a woman who tried to destroy it so many times, whether she was following orders or not. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Adora aches, through the muscle and the bone, down to her core. She aches with the toll of giving everything of herself to the city. And if she gets to take anything, if she gets to </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> anything for herself, then she wants this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes fall to Catra’s mouth. Catra’s gaze lowers too. Adora’s lips are tingling. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She leans in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I want her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their lips meet. Adora melts into it, into Catra. She hasn't felt this light in a long time, every bit of her singing. She doesn’t know why they haven't been doing this all along, but she's willing to spend the rest of her life making up for lost time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they pull apart, Catra’s smile is the most gorgeous shade of purple Adora has ever seen. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Purple looks good on you, princess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora kisses her again, on her lips and her cheeks and the tip of her nose. She doesn’t ever want to stop. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You too.”</span>
</p>
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